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A METHOD OF TRANSPORTING LIVE FISHES 

By Charles F. Holder 

Paper presented before the Fourth International Fishery Congress 
held at Washington, U. S. A., September 22 to 26, 1908 

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF nSHERlES : : : : : VOL. XXVIII. P. 1005-1007 
Documeni No. 702 : :::::::::::::::::: : : Issued April. 1910 



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APR 16 1910 



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A METHOD OF TRANSPORTING LIVE FISHES. 

By CHARLES F. HOLDER. 
J* 

In my somewhat extended experience in handling and transporting Hve 
fishes the following has proved the most satisfactory method, as illustrated on 
a particular occasion: 

Large numbers of fish of different kinds were to be collected, upon contract, 
from fishermen along the Hudson River, from the mouth as far up as Fishkill. 
My boat, chartered for the purpose, was a water boat, or large tug, with her 
tanks filled with fresh water and her decks covered with galvanized-iron tanks 
for salt water. The fishermen came alongside with their fish in live cars, or 
the tug steamed up to the big nets; cans were sunk beside the cars or the nets, 
and the fish were transferred without being touched by hand. 

A few hours later the tug landed in New York, where big drays, loaded 
with cans, were in readiness. The insides of the cans were covered with sponges 
wired into wire fencing and pressed against the interior of the can, the sponges 
swelling when wet and forming a perfectly soft pad for the fishes. These cans 
were lowered by a derrick into the tanks of the tug, where men standing in 
the water transferred the fish to them by means of very wide fine-mesh nets, 
never touching the fish with their hands. As each can was filled, which was 
done with great rapidity, it was hoisted to the deck and covered with a tin 
cap which had an inner false bottom perforated with small holes. With this, 
at the slightest tip from the horizontal, water flowed into the perforations and 
dropped back in a shower, thus aerating itself. The moment a dray was loaded 
it was driven away, not carefully but at a run or fast trot, to the aquarium, 
the rapid motion being less dangerous to the fish than a long swing. 

The original and distinctive features of this method of transporting live 
fishes are the sponge-lined tanks and the self-aerating device. The latter can 
not be exclusively depended upon — I found it necessary to make the round of 
the tanks with a large syringe — but the false lining of the tops reduced the 
hand labor 50 per cent; and on shipboard, for instance, when the motion is 
sufficient, it is my belief that fishes might live a week with this automatic 
aeration of the water in the cans. 

I used this method of transporting fishes first in 1876, and on numerous 

occasions since have found it successful. A chief feature is the care in handling, 

not a fish being touched by hand, and thus, with the cushioned tanks, not a 

fish being injured. The sponges also prevent the loss of water. 

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